On My Shoulder
by DapperCrapper
Summary: Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. God is not in Heaven, so he must be in another dimension. Castiel goes on a hunt for the one thing that can break the barriers between worlds but what happens when he finds her? CastielDawn
1. Missing

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, two people who are far more talented than I am.

A/N: Yeah... I know, I probably should be working on my other fanfiction which is long over do for an update but what can I say, I'm having a Transformers writer's block at the moment so in the meantime, I'll be working on this little bit of craziness.

"GAH! Dammit, Cas! Quit doing that!"

Castiel's face remained annoyingly placid while his charge fumed at him. "Hello, Dean."

Dean sat down on the rickety motel bed, irritated with his heavenly companion for popping up behind him again. Grabbing a beer from the cooler near his feet he lifted his eyes to the other. "So, you find God yet? Can I have my necklace back now, please?"

"No, I haven't found him yet and I need your help." Castiel replied and then stopped to look around the room. "Where's Sam?"

"Out getting food. And what do you want me for this time?" Before Castiel could answer Dean held up a hand. "If this is another Teenage Mutant Ninja Angel hunt, count me out, I'm trying to stay as far away from Archangels as humanly possible."

"No, this is not about the Archangels." Castiel replied. "God isn't in heaven and He isn't on Earth so He must be in a different plane. Another dimension."

Well that was the last thing Dean expected to hear. Luckily he had finished swallowing the gulp of beer he took. Lowering the bottle he gave the angel a disbelieving stare. "Another dimension? You mean there's other worlds besides here, heaven and hell?"

Castiel nodded. "Yes, and I believe that God may be in one of them."

"How many more are there?" Dean asked.

"Thousands, at the least. Some are nearly as lovely as heaven, others almost as awful as Hell. And there are some that are a lot like Earth."

Still having a hard time wrapping his head around this, Dean scrubbed a hand over his face. "And let me guess, you have no friggin clue which one, am I right?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"So, you want me to go dimension hopping with you? Thanks but I'll pass. I've been away from Earth long enough. Not really itching to go jumping into some random dark abyss... again."

"You misunderstand me, Dean. I can't go into other dimensions. Before I could, but now that I'm cut off from heaven's power, that privilege is lost to me." Taking a deep breath, Castiel continued. "However, there is a way that I can get into other planes."

Dean's brows arched at that. "And that would be...?"

!*!*!*

Thunder roared and a large bolt of lightning forked the sky. Wind howled, ripping through the trees, the rain poured to the Earth, and a figure walked, heedless of the surrounding chaos.

God, how he longed for a bloody cigarette but it was useless trying to light up in this torrential crap storm. Well, he was nearly to his crypt anyway.

A small sound drifted over his ear, causing him to halt. He turned in the direction of the sound and sighed. He should've known.

She was on her knees in front of the gravestone, a bouquet of sopping wet roses in her hands, the water running down her face that was not only rain. She heard the sound of sloshing footsteps behind her but paid no attention until a cold hand clamped on her shoulder.

"You stupid bint!" The vampire behind her growled. "It's the middle of the night! All kinds of nasties are out and about just hoping for someone stupid enough to be out here! Keeping their hopes alive, is that it? You think your big sis died just so you could become vamp chow?"

She said nothing, only looked away from the grave to him, her bloodshot eyes the only evidence of her crying, her tears long lost in the rain.

His anger at her drained and he let out a sigh. "C'mon, Li'l Bit. Let's get you home, eh? Cold and rain's not much of a problem for me, but we don't need you out here getting sick."

Reaching down, Spike gripped the girl by the arm, gently drawing her to her feet. "C'mon, time to go home, Dawn"


	2. Help With the God Hunt

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, two people who are far more talented than I am.

A/N: I wasn't expecting anyone to actually read this. I just figured I'd post this for poops and giggles. Well, shows how much I know. :D Well, here is chapter two. Please regardless if you loved, liked, hated it or thought it was meh, all I ask is that you review. I treasure feedback more than cookies and cake... and I have a sweet tooth, so... please? Review? Thankies!

"The Key?"

"Yes, the Key."

"As in an actual key? Like a car key?"

"Physically, no."

"Well, what is it physically?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

The creak of the motel room door opening had both Castiel and Dean looking up to see Sam entering the room, white paper bags in hand. The tall man stopped when he noticed the angel.

"Cas? What's going on?" It was always serious when Castiel paid a visit.

Before the angel could speak, Dean stood and grabbed a bag from his brother's hands, rifling through it. "Dude, please tell me you got some pie."

Sam's brow scrunched in confusion. "Yeah, apple. One slice for me and three for you."

"Yeah, well I'm gonna need more for this," Dean grumbled as he unwrapped his bacon cheeseburger.

Sam's brows shot up. More than three slices?! Okay, this must be huge. He turned an anxious look to the angel. "What's going on?"

"Cas wants us to help him with his God hunt." Dean answered through a mouth full of bacon burger.

Blinking and scratching the back of his head, Sam gave Castiel a skeptical look. "And how are we going to be able to help with that?"

Castiel explained his reasoning. "God isn't in heaven, so he must be in another plane. Another dimension. Before it would have been a bit difficult for me to breach the gates, but it would have been possible."

"But..." Sam caught on, "Since you've rebelled they've cut you off from heaven and you can't do that kind of thing anymore."

Castiel was quiet for a moment before answering, eyes downward. "Precisely."

Sam looked down, feeling more than a little guilty and didn't notice Dean doing the exact same.

Breaking the tense silence, Castiel continued. "However, there is another way for me get through. The Key."

Sam blinked in confusion. "The what?"

"That's what I want to know." Dean spoke up. "What is this thing you're talking about?"

!*!*!*!

_Dear diary, _

_It's been a while since I've written anything thing here. Last time I think was right before I found out I was the mystical glowy Key thingie that would eventually cause my sister's death. I don't know why I'm even bothering. Like there really needs to be a written record of how much my life sucks. First I lost my Mom, and now my sister. _

_God it's been months and I still can't believe she's gone. Things are so messed up. And yeah, everyone is really nice to me but it's not enough. I miss her. I'd give anything to hear her tell me what an annoying pain I am. I just-_

A tear fell from her eyes and onto the paper, smudging the ink and causing her to stop to blot at it before continuing.

_I just want her back so badly. And having that robot around that looks like her is not enough. Yeah, the robot's nice... well, programmed to be nice at least. Willow's programmed her to as close to the real Buffy as she could. _

_Willow and Tara moved in a little while after Buffy died. They're in Mom's room while the robot recharges in Buffy's room. No one knows but at night I go in there and I snuggle with her. I mean, yeah, it's hooked up to wires, cables and her eyes are open the whole time and she never says anything but... it looks like her and while it's not enough it's the best that I can hope for now that she's dead. Most people don't even have that luxury. _

_I go to her grave everyday now. I stayed there way late tonight and Spike found me, brought me home. He's the main one who spends time with me. It's kind of funny actually, months ago, I would have given anything to have him pay this sort of attention to me. Now, I'd trade it all in a heartbeat to have Buffy back. _

More tears fell, smudging the ink and soon she just gave up on journaling. Closing the notebook, Dawn flopped back onto her bed. Grabbing the stuffed frog next to her, she pressed it to her face and screamed as loud as she could, its cotton filled body muffling her pained cries to the rest of sleeping household.

!*!*!*!

"Okay, so... you're telling me that this Key thing is a green energy ball that can break down the fabric of reality?"

Dean ran a hand through his hair in disbelief, trying to take it in but having trouble. He glanced over at his brother to see his reaction. It seemed Sam was taking it a little better than Dean.

"It's not that insane, Dean." Sam said and Dean looked at him like he just grew girl parts.

"What do you mean it's not that insane?" He demanded and Sam gave a small shrug.

"Well, there are countless lore and theories on alternate dimensions and ways to get into them. I'm actually a little surprised we haven't heard of something like this before."

"But..." Dean protested. "That's... freaky Sci-Fi crap!"

"Oh and what we deal with is so normal?" Sam countered and Dean gave an accepting half shrug. The younger brother turned back to Castiel. "So... this Key thing? Green energy ball that can crack open dimensions or close them up. Where do you put something like that?"

"For centuries, it was protected by an group of monks deemed trustworthy. The order of Dagon. Very powerful men. They kept it safe, until a demigod came after it."

"A demigod?" asked Dean.

The angel nodded. "Yes, from a dimension nearly as horrible as Hell. She was nearly as horrible as Lilith. Her name was Glorificous. She ruled there with two others but she grew in power The others became afraid of her and struck first. They expelled her from that realm to this lower plane of existence. And she had stopped at nothing to get the Key so she could return to her realm, exact revenge on those who turned on her and reclaim her seat of power."

Sam took that in and sat down at the small table in the room. "Okay... as far as most nefarious schemes go... All she wanted to do was go home, leave our world alone and kick the asses of those who sent her here? That's actually not that bad. Why not just let her use it to go home then give it back to the monks?"

"Because, the ritual that she would have used would have opened all of the gates, causing the dimensions to bleed into each other. Everything would have fallen into chaos. Not just this world, but everything and it would not have stopped. That could not be allowed to happen."

"So... what you're saying is... that there's probably a world with huge dragons that eat babies and while she would've been trying to get home, those things would've came here?" Dean asked and Castiel nodded.

"Yes, which is why the monks did not let her have it. They did everything that they could to keep it from her until one day they used their power to change it into something else."

"What did they change it into?" Dean asked and Castiel sighed.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Listen, these monks were extremely powerful and smart. They cloaked their work, even to us. And all of this was happening right around the time we..." Castiel stopped and Dean straightened.

"Let me guess. While they were shaping this thing, you guys were busy springing me from the pit so I wouldn't crack the first seal?"

A sympathetic sigh escaped Castiel and he nodded, meeting Dean's eyes. "Exactly."

Guilt still heavy on his shoulders, Dean swallowed and nodded, saying nothing only waiting for the angel to continue and ignoring his brother's concerned and understanding look. After all, Sam did break the final seal.

"We did not even know that the Key was changed until a few months ago. It was activated, the walls crumbled down and dimensions bled into each other. Then the gates were closed, from my understanding the demigod is dead and the Key is still out there."

Sam ran hand through his dark hair, still having trouble grasping all of this. "Okay... If dimensions... bled into each other why didn't we know about it? Or notice something? Don't you think it'd be a little hard to miss a portal cracking open and God knows what popping into the world?"

"Because it all happened in one place. It's like a dam with a leak. It starts off small then grows. If it hadn't have been stopped, the world would have been in total chaos. Creatures unlike anything you have ever seen, things only thought to be in ancient myths, walking the the Earth.

"And you want to turn this thing on again?" Dean asked outraged. "So that crap can actually happen while you're off looking for God?"

"That only happened because the Key's power was not focused. If it were actually focused, a gate between this world and another would be opened, not all of them."

That calmed Dean down but there was still another problem. "You really want us to go portal hopping with you? Forget it. I'm staying here."

Castiel sighed. "I don't want you two to come with me, Dean. I only want you to help me find the Key."

"And then you're going to go off, find God bring Him back here so we can kick the Devil's ass?" Dean barely contained a humorless snort and was about to say something smart assed but the glare Castiel gave him warned him to shut his face.

"One question..." Sam said, sensing the tension and deciding to throw in a diversion.

Castiel turned to him. "Yes?"

"You said that the gates opened, all of them. But then they closed. I thought you said that once they got started they wouldn't stop. What stopped it?"

Castiel shook his head. "I have no idea. My superiors probably knew but even before I rebelled I was on a need to know basis and at the time my most pressing matter was-"

"You had the actual apocalypse to worry about?" Dean finished for him.

Taking a breath through his nose, Castiel turned to both of them."Will you two help me find the Key? I cannot do this alone." A little bit of the stoicism slid away allowing the brothers to see how desperate he truly was. "Please."

Sam and Dean both exchanged looks of apprehension. It was insane but with Lucifer free there really weren't a lot of options.

Well, Dean could say yes to Michael.

The memory of the poor, broken shell flashed through Dean's mind. That poor bastard who invited Raphael in and how having the Archangel ride him had left his body after he vacated.

"_Is this what I'm looking at if Michael jumps my bones?" Dean had asked Castiel._

"_No, not at all. Michael is much more powerful. It'll be far worse for you."_

This whole thing was insane. Searching for this thing but he would gladly go on a hunt for it before allowing himself to end up like that poor bastard Raphael violated.

With a sigh he met Castiel's eyes with and gave a determined nod. "I'm in."


	3. Mysticism

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, two people who are far more talented than I am. I am making no money off of this so please, don't sue me. :D

A/N: All righty, the first two chapters were a little boring so here is the third one. Hopefully, this will be a little more interesting.

"You'll help me find it?"

Dean sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I still think this is insane but this a Hell of a lot better than saying yes to Michael." He turned to his brother, "What about you, Sam?"

"I'm willing to try anything at this point," Sam sighed then turned to Castiel. "Yeah, I'm in too."

A small but grateful smile graced the angel's lips. "Thank you." Then he turned serious. "We should go now."

Sam gave a light nod but Dean groaned. "Dammit, Cas... We had this discussion. Us: humans. We need sleep every now and again. Give us four to five hours and then we'll go."

Cadtiel sighed in both frustration and resignation. Sometimes he forgot how much rest humans needed. "All right, fine. Five hours."

"Great." Dean tossed his burger wrappers and pie cartons in the trash while Sam grabbed his bag and headed to the bathroom. Dean glanced at the angel and arched a brow. He hadn't moved a muscle. "Let me guess. You're just going to sit there?"

"Yes."

With a light shrug, Dean handed him the remote as he kicked off his shoes. "Well, entertain yourself with some bad TV, just keep the volume down." He took off his jacket and got into bed. "And when we're good and asleep, be sure to flip to channel 208."

"Dean..." Sam warned from the bathroom and his brother smirked.

"But, try to keep the noise down. Sam's bad enough."

"Dean!" Sam snapped from the bathroom

"What?" Castiel was purely lost.

Dean's smirk grew into a grin and he and rolled over. "G'night..."

Sam exited the bathroom and headed over to his bed but not before smacking his brother upside the head with his jacket.

"What?!" Dean griped, unable to keep from laughing.

"Jackass..." Sam flopped in the other bed and clicked off the lamp. "G'night, Cas."

"Good night." The angel replied and after a few moments of doing nothing he clicked on the television. As he flipped through the channels he didn't hear Dean and Sam whispering to each other.

"You're such a jackass, Dean... Trying to get the angel to-" Dean's barely concealed snort shut the younger one up.

"Dude, chill out... Besides, you think he even knows how?"

Sam was quiet for a moment then he groaned in feigned agony. "Ugh... I can't unsee!"

That got the angel's attention."Sam, what's wrong?" Castiel asked worriedly.

"Nothing... he just has an... active imagination," Dean snickered. "Good night."

Well, it didn't seem to be anything serious. Shrugging it off, Castiel turned back to the television. Soon Sam's soft snores and Dean's loud one's filled the room. After flipping through numerous sitcoms, hospital dramas and a few animated shows Dean's suggestion came back to him and his curiosity grew and he pressed the numbers two, zero and eight.

"_That's right, the Roto Rooter man's gonna fix the plumbing good and proper._

"_Oh! Yeah, Mr. Plumber, snake my pipes!"_

"_I think my buddy here should go down the drain..."_

"_MMM-HMMM!"_

"Gah!" Eyes wide in shock and mortification, he hurriedly clicked off the television only to hear Dean's muffled snickering. His head whipped toward his charge's direction and he clenched his fists, breathing angrily through his nose.

"Dean..."

Dean clicked on the lamp and smiled at the look on the angel's face. His expression was a mask of outrage similar to the look Raphael gave him that day but unlike the Archangel, Castiel's cheeks were beet red.

"What?" Dean asked innocently while Castiel continued to fume at him.

"What's going on...?" Sam grumbled and opened his eyes to see Dean wearing his "innocent" face then lifted his head to see a livid..._blushing_ Castiel by the television. Putting two and two together, Sam flopped back onto the bed and clicked the lamp off, shaking his head. "Made the angel watch porn..."

"Good night, Cas." Dean said, a smile evident in his voice.

The angel sat back in the chair, using a good portion of his will power to keep from throttling the elder Winchester. "Be quiet and go to sleep."

Sam sighed and rolled over, then broke into snickers as well.

"You too."

!*!*!*!

_My, oh my! Would you come and say goodbye?_

_To rule this kingdom, baby tell me why. _

Aqua's bubbly voice roused Dawn from her slumber. Mumbling, she opened her eyes to find her arm wrapped around the Buffybot's waste. Lifting her head, she stared into the robot's face, so like her late sister's. Pale and beautiful.

Blank and lifeless...

Swallowing a wave of despair, Dawn eased out of the bed, unable to take her eyes off of the robot. The various cables plugged into that kept it running. Why couldn't people be like that? Why couldn't someone just find some sort of plug and hook it to her sister's corpse and bring her back to life?

A forlorn sigh escaping her, she left the room and went back to her own to get ready for school.

After about a half hour she was clean and clothed. She headed downstairs and a small smile tilted her mouth when the scent of blueberry pancakes wafted over her nose. Sure enough, there was Tara at the stove while sat at the table, laptop in front of her.

Tara looked up and smiled. "Morning, Dawnie. How'd you sleep?"

Dawn shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

The blonde slid a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of her along with a couple slices of ham. "Eat up. You don't want to miss the bus."

Dawn had no problem with obeying. Tara's pancakes were amazing and she did want to get to school. It took her mind off of things. Granted, her grades weren't as stellar as they used to be but she did try just not as much as she should have. In all honesty, she just wanted to quit school and crawl in a hole somewhere but every time that thought entered her head she squished it. Quitting would be the biggest insult to her sister's memory.

_Be brave. Live. For me. _

Yes, she would live. She didn't know what she had to live for but she would live.

Finally finished, she placed her dirty plate int the sink and grabbed her bag. "Bye guys." She gave both

witches a kiss on the cheek and left for the bus stop.

!*!*!*!*!

"Okay, so do we have anyway of finding this Key thing?" Sam asked as he slid his laptop into his bag.

The sun shone through the windows of the motel room as Dean and Sam packed up their belongings. Castiel was seated at the table, the blush from last night long since faded though he cast annoyed looks at Dean every now and again which tickled Dean to no end.

Turning to Sam he answered his question. "The Key's true nature is not perceivable to ordinary humans. Only those outside of reality can see its true form."

"Outside of reality?" Dean asked.

"Yes, such as someone with second sight, a psychic..." Both he and Dean turned to Sam.

Sam looked highly uncomfortable and shifted for a moment. "I... don't know if that's even working anymore with me. I can't even sense spirits in a room anymore, I don't think that I could find this thing."

"Well, that's a good thing." Dean said. "We don't need that starting back up again."

Sam said nothing, only ignored his brother and turned back to the angel. "So, only a psychic could find this thing?"

Castiel thought for a moment, "Or a regular lunatic."

Sam arched his brows and looked out the window. "Like the old guy out there bitching out the lamp post?"

Sure enough there was an old man standing outside of the motel, dressed shabbily and ripping the lamp post on the corner a new one.

Castiel looked as well. "Yes, he would probably be able to see its true nature."

Dean stood up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm not dragging that guy with us. He smells like pee and vomit!"

"Well, then what do you suggest, Dean?" Castiel asked and Dean grew quiet as he thought.

"Well," he said after a moment, "you said a psychic could find it? Let's find a psychic then. Maybe a psychic could go to the place it was last before the Extreme Makeover and point us in the right direction?"

"But where are we going to find a powerful psychic, Dean?" Sam asked and his brother shrugged.

"No idea, but I know who might know one." Flipping out his cell phone Dean pressed a speed dial button and after a few rings someone picked up.

"Yeah, Dean?" The voice answered.

"Bobby. Question..." Dean paused to put the phone on speaker.

"What?"

Dean explained everything as quickly as he could, the whole situation. When he was done, Bobby was silent for a while.

"Bobby, you there?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm here..." Bobby said. "And tell Castiel he's crazier than a box of chicken lips."

Castiel's brow furrowed in confusion. "Bobby... chickens don't have lips."

"And you don't make no kind of sense either." Bobby retorted then sighed, "But, if the three of you are going to go through with this craziness, I'll help. Now, you guys want to know of a pretty powerful psychic... Hmm... let's see." He paused for a couple of second before speaking again, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Oh, wait. I know how about the same psychic who helped you out when something was in your old house? Y'know, the one who put your Dad on the hunting path?" The tone in Bobby's voice clearly stated they were both dumb asses.

Both Dean and Sam grew quiet as they marveled at their own stupidity. Scratching the back of his head, Dean cleared his throat. "Erm... right... Thanks, Bobby."

"Idiots." And with that Bobby hung up.

Closing his phone, Dean sighed. "So, you heard him. I guess we're off to see Missouri. She's our best bet." He was so not looking forward to this. There were several reasons he did not wish to go there.

Castiel gave his charge a quizzical look. His dismay at going was evident. "You don't wish to go?"

"She lives in Lawrence, Cas." Dean explained and that was all of the explanation the angel needed.

"Plus..." Dean continued and Castiel tilted his head curiously.

"What else, Dean?"

"She's mean! She's always snapping at me and hitting me... and making me clean up." Dean actually pouted as he grabbed the rest of his things.

Castiel turned to Sam who confirmed Dean's statements with a nod and a smirk. A small smirk tilted Castiel's mouth. "I think I may like this woman."

"Shaddup, ya jerk!" Dean growled as he left the room and headed to the car.

"Wait..." Sam said and both turned to him. "We're driving there? Cas isn't going to zap us there?"

"No way." Dean said as he dumped everything in the trunk.

"But, we're in Nebraska!" Sam protested. "From here to Kansas? That's a long drive... We seriously aren't getting zapped there?"

Castiel gave Dean a lightly annoyed look before answering Sam. "Because of Dean's delicate digestive system, no."

"I couldn't poop for a week after you zapped me somewhere!"

Sam blinked then laughed. "Yeah... we'd better drive. Dealing with a constipated Dean is never fun." He ignored the glare his brother gave him as he slid into the passenger seat. "And if you think that's bad... Hope you're not around when he has hemorrhoids-OW!" Sam rubbed his abused shoulder while Dean shoved a tape into the tape deck.

"Douche."

!*!*!*!

It was late in the afternoon when the trio pulled up in front of the white three-story where Missouri operated her business as well as where she lived.

"Do you think she's home?" Dean asked as they exited the car.

Just as they were about to head up the steps, the door opened. Missouri was there leading a middle aged woman out of the house, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Don't worry about a thing Ma'am. Your boy's just fine, manly as ever."

The woman smiled in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Thank you."

"Oh," Missouri shook her head. "Not a problem at all. Now you-" She stopped when she noticed the three on her walkway but her eyes widened when they fell on the shorter of the three in the trench coat.

Dean and Sam exchanged looks while Castiel stood placid as ever. It seemed she knew what he was.

"Missouri?" The other woman asked concerned, looking back and forth from the psychic to the three on the path.

Her voice must've shaken her from her daze. Shaking her head, she gave the woman a reassuring smile. "Oh, sorry. It's fine. I just hadn't seen them in while."

"Oh." The woman said. "Well, I'll get out of your way then. Thank you again. Good bye!" With a polite nod to the three men she headed to her car and drove away.

When she was gone, she turned back to the three. "Sam and Dean... it's been a while. Almost four years." Her gaze flicked to Castiel. "Made some... interesting friends during then, did you?"

Castiel walked towards her slowly, never taking his eyes from her. "You know what I am?"

Missouri shook her head. "I'm not too sure. I know you aren't a demon, you aren't evil... but it'd be a cold day in Hell before I'd ever want to piss you off." She took a few steps closer and gave him a scrutinizing look. "I'm gonna take a wild guess... You're a little higher on the ladder than we are, am I right?"

Castiel lowered his eyes for a moment before looking at her again. "Not as high as I once was."

It took her a little while to figure that out but she did. "Let me guess... Insubordination? Now you're in a heap of trouble with the heads of HR?"

"That's one way of putting it."

Nodding and letting it go, she turned to Dean and Sam with a smile. "Now, I thought I told you two not to be strangers." She gave Dean a motherly hug then tensed and pulled back, a look of pure horror on her face.

"What?" Dean asked nervously.

"Oh honey... " She had tears in her eyes now. "You poor thing... Forty years?"

Oh crap, she knew. She must've seen it. Tensing, Dean gave a curt nod. "Yeah..."

She studied him even harder and her eyes widened then she gave him a sympathetic smile and touched his face gently. "You had no idea, Dean... You didn't know it was the first seal... and as for what you did to them... Honey, you've got to forgive yourself. "

He wasn't sure he'd be able to do that but its what everyone kept telling him. "It's not that easy."

"Well, of course it isn't, but you try anyway."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he gave an uneasy nod. "I'll try."

"Good." Then she turned to Sam and gave him a hug only to pull away quickly and whack him upside the head.

"OW!"

"You big dumbass! I oughtta turn you over my knee!" She fisted her hands on her hips and craned her neck to glare up at him. "Listening to a demon? Boy, rule number one in the Hunter's Manual: Demons lie... unless telling the truth works to their advantage."

Swallowing guiltily, Sam turned away unable to meet her accusing brown eyes. "I know."

She still wasn't finished with him yet. "Sam, you oughtta know better than that! Dean's supposed to be the dingbat!"

"Hey!"

While Dean looked petulant and Missouri fumed, Sam kept his eyes downward. It felt like his guilt would crush him into the floor.

Missouri calmed down at the guilty, self-loathing look on his face and sighed. "You always were the Winchester with the softest heart... It kinda makes you an easy mark. But, I'm guessing you've more than learned your lesson, huh, boy?"

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Sam nodded. "More than..."

The psychic was clearly pissed at him but decided to let it go. Besides, from what she saw in Dean's head the angels were more than happy to let this happen so there was plenty of blame to go around. So, with a sigh she opened the door and stepped aside. "Come on in, boys. What can I help you with?"

!*!*!*!*!

"Hey, Dawn."

Poking at her tray of what passed for turkey and mashed potatoes Dawn lifted her eyes and gave a small smile as her friend sat across from her. "Hey, Lisa."

Lisa pushed her tray of slop aside and dug in her purse. "Guess what I got at the store you always hang out in?"

"Crystal ball?" Dawn asked, not really interested.

"Nope." The other girl shook her head, her black hair swaying. "These!"

In her hands, Lisa proudly displayed a brand new deck of tarot cards, the standard Waite deck. Dawn's eyes went from the box of cards to Lisa's smiling face and she arched her brows sardonically. "And your bible thumper parents are ok with those? Especially after they burned your last deck?"

Lisa scoffed. "Please. They don't know about these... Or the runes I keep hidden between my mattress. My aunt knows but she's an atheist so she doesn't really care one way or the other."

Dawn could tell where this was going by the way her friend was fairly bouncing in her seat. Well, considering her life was pretty bleak at the moment she really didn't mind being Lisa's Guinea pig. "Go on and give me a reading, Lise."

With a smile Lisa took the deck out of the box and handed them to Dawn. "Okay, the one I usually do is a fifteen card reading. Five cards for the past, present and future. So, all you have to do is shuffle and when you feel you're done hand them back but turn them around since I'm sitting across for you."

Nodding, Dawn began to shuffle the cards. It was weird, while she was shuffling she felt this weird feeling in the solar plexus and then suddenly it calmed and she knew the were ready. Considering she lived with two witches she wasn't going to question it. She just handed the cards back to Lisa after she turned the deck around.

Lisa then laid five cards in a row, then five more in another row and one last row. She then flipped over the first five cards. They were the Hierophant, the Magician, the Queen of Wands reversed, the Tower and the Empress.

Lisa's brown eyes studied the cards and she let out a sigh. "Okay... the first one, the Hierophant... that's usually a card of tradition and order... probably school, or seeking council from a wise person. Or it can mean a religious group... and it's next to the Magician which is a very creative card. So... it's kind of hard for me to say... I'm going to guess that someone, probably a teacher or minister inspired you in someway..."

_Or a group of monks just made me out of whirly energy... not that you need to know that._

Dawn gave a light shrug. "Well, my art teacher did say I should draw more since I'm very good at it."

Lisa looked at the next three cards in the row. "Okay, the Page of Cups can represent a person or a situation. If it's a situation it's going to be something of an emotional nature. If it's a person, it'll probably be a pretty emotional kid... a baby up to age 17... It's weird, any other time I'd say that with the card position that some traditional establishment made something and it had an extreme effect on this kid."

_Or they made the kid..._

"What about those two?" Dawn asked pointing to the last two.

"The Tower is an extreme shock, usually crappy and the Empress is a very mothering card, usually a woman who looks out for you, cares and protects you..." Lisa stopped, sighed and continued in a softer voice. "I think... it's talking about how you lost your mom."

_And my sister... _

"What about the next row?" Dawn asked, wanting to move on.

Lisa flipped over the next five cards. "This is what's currently going on." She flipped the first card. "Okay... the first card is the Five of Cups, which is a grieving card..." Lisa just flipped the next card without even elaborating the first card. There was no need. "The next card is... Death reversed. It can mean a birth, or it can mean not excepting something that's gone... I think it's tell you that you need to move on from your Mom's death." She flipped the next card. "The Queen of Swords is a cool woman, who is very strong and was more than likely hurt by men. It might by talking about your sister... Didn't you say that she's had crappy luck with men?"

_Yeah, but she's dead... that card's telling me to get over my sister's death..._

Dawn didn't voice her feelings. As far as the rest of Sunydale was concerned Buffy was still alive, only a bit perky and weird. No one outside of the Scoobies knew that the Slayer was dead and gone.

"What about the next two cards?"

Lisa flipped the final two of that row over. "Okay, you have... the Six of Wands reversed which is feeling unappreciated and neglected and then you have Nine of Cups and then Six of Wands reversed." Lisa's brows arched. "Wow... that's kind of weird to see. Nine of Cups is the wish card, it's like the best card in the deck as far as minor arcana cards go, it means that you'll get something you've always wanted... but next to the Six of Wands it's saying that you'll get what you wish for but then soon you'll be feeling unappreciated or neglected."

Dawn's face was a blank slate. "Huh?"

"Yeah, weird... I know..." Lisa sighed and moved to the last row. "This is what's going to be coming into your life." She flipped over the first card.

"Ok... the King of Wands. A dynamic man, usually attractive and kind of a ladies man..." Lisa's smile and tone were sly as she said this. "I think a hottie is going to be coming to you soon... Maybe it's Kevin Berman!"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Keep going, please."

Lisa flipped over the next card. "The King of Cups. An emotionally mature man, usually very sweet and caring..." She flipped the next card. "Temperance...," the next "The Devil..." and then the final card. "Judgment."

Dawn looked at the row of cards. "Okay, this is telling me what?"

Lisa sat back in her chair. "I don't know... the first two I know are guys that are coming into your life... and I'm guessing that if they go here they're probably seniors because most guys our age are represented by Knights... or they might be way older..." Her brown eye widened to their full limits. "Ohmigod, you're going to have an affair with two college guys!"

"What?!"

"Dude..." Lisa pointed at the cards. "They're right next to the Devil which sometimes means extreme sex."

"They are not next to the Devil, they're next to Temperance." Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Ok, well they'll probably calm things down... like the crappy stuff you're going through now and then they'll make with the boinking."

"Lisa!" Dawn palmed her head. "That is so not going to happen! Now, try again please..."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Okay... but I'm sure extreme sex is going to happen... or something majorly crappy. Because the Devil can mean enslavement... probably an addiction. Maybe one of them is hooked on something but if that were the case then I think they'd be reversed." She looked at the next card. "Temperance is usually a card of harmonious blending... or peace. And Judgment... I know that is a karmic card, or a card of duty. I think something big is going to be happening soon, and these guys are a part of it." She said as she pointed at the two court cards.

Dawn sighed. More than likely some more crap was going to happen in Sunnydale. Oh who was she kidding? Of course it was.

"Erm... sure... Well, thanks for the reading. The future is weird but the other parts made sense." She stood to toss her uneaten tray away but found her eyes lingering on the Temperance card. It was a beautiful angel stood blending things together harmoniously however she was more drawn to what he was than what he was doing and had a strange feeling that Lisa's interpretation of the card was wrong.

!!*!*!*!

"All right, so let me see if I understand this? God is missing and you want me to help you find this thing so you can find Him?"

Missouri sighed and stood up from her chair. "I need a drink for this."

She headed into the kitchen and pulled three beers out of the fridge, hand two to the brothers and kept one for herself. She wasn't too sure if the angel, Castiel, would drink but didn't want to appear rude. It was hard to know, she couldn't read this one's mind. However she did get her answer when she handed Dean his beer and caught a flash of something in his mind. Her brow's arched disbelievingly as she looked from the angel to Dean.

"What?" Dean asked.

Missouri just shook her head at him. "A brothel, Dean? You took the angel to a brothel?"

Sam's eyes popped and his mouth fell open. "What?!" He looked from Castiel who looked highly uncomfortable and then to Dean who was amused as Hell.

"It was when we had split up for a while... and it was funny Hell..." Dean broke into snickers and even Missouri chuckled at what she saw in the elder Winchester's head.

"Wow..."

"Yeah..." Dean pulled Sam aside and spoke in a low voice. "Up to his ass in demon guts, he's just peachy but throw a pair of boobies in his face and he wigs..."

Sam tried to keep the laughter in but found it impossible and he joined the other two in their guffawing. Out of everyone in the room, the only non-human was the only unamused. Castiel stayed seated on the couch and for the second time in twenty-four hours, he gave a room full of morons a withering glare while his cheeks were stained berry red.

"If you three are finished have a good laugh at my expense," Castiel said, trying to reclaim some dignity, "we do have more pressing matters."

"Right..." Sam agreed, trying to reign in his laughter.

"Sorry..." Dean's lips kept twitching.

"All right..." Missouri said getting back to business though a chuckle escaped her every now and again. "I can try to find this thing but I'll have to go to the place where it last was... and I'll need my Ouija board."

Castiel nodded and stood. "I will take you there immediately."

Missouri went to retrieve her board but stopped dead in her tracks when she caught a stray thought from Dean then turned wide eyes to Castiel. "A week!?"

An annoyed sigh escaped the angel "Before you insist that we drive, you must know that the place where it was last seen is in the Czech Republic. There is no other way, I must teleport you."

"Do we have to go?" Dean asked not the least bit enthusiastic.

"No, only Missouri needs to go."

The psychic sighed "Fine... " she turned to Sam and Dean. "You two wait here. Don't break anything... and pick me up some Ex-Lax... I think I'm gonna need it when I get back."

"Ugh..." Dean groaned while Sam cleared his throat.

"Awkward..."

Ignoring the two brothers, Missouri turned to Castiel. "All right, beam me up, Scotty."

Castiel placed his index and middle fingers against her forehead and within an instant they were both gone from the room.

!*!*!*!*!*!


	4. Monastery

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

a/n: Sorry about the hiatus folks, school and whatnot gets in the way _. Also, just so people know, I changed Dawn's age as well as grade in this story. I know in season six she's a fifteen year old freshman, well here she's a sixteen year old sophomore… Not that much better, but lowers my squick factor to have it done this way.

_Oh I am NOT looking forward to going in there…_

"Are you all right?" The annoyingly monotone voice beside her asked. No wonder she picked up a great deal of annoyance in Dean's head when it came to dealing with this guy.

"Yeah..." She sighed and straightened herself up and looked around. It was night now, and it was a bit colder than it was in Kansas. Missouri swallowed the lump of nervousness that rose in her throat. After getting her bearings after being teleported halfway across the globe, the psychic found herself standing in front of a huge temple. The sight of it alone was enough to send a normal person scurrying away while the energy of the place made her skin crawl. The structure loomed over the pair, the high steeples shot into the sky, high, supposedly untouchable, and eerie reminder of the power that was housed here. She took a small step forward, eying the dark gray abandoned monastery warily. Its broken windows glared down at her like the malevolent sunken eyes of a ghoul. The brush of leftover power whispered over her psyche, making her want to grab the angel and demand that he take her back home.

"You will have to go in without me."

Heart leaping into her throat at his outrageous demand, Missouri whirled on the angel, her brown eyes wide with disbelief. He wanted her to go in there by herself!? Fear and shock gripped her before quickly morphing to anger.

"Boy, are you insane!?"

Unperturbed by her outburst, Castiel walked a few feet towards the building and stopped. He held out a hand and pushed it forward thought it wouldn't budge. It was like he was touching an invisible wall. "I can't get in."

Her brows shot up and she cast an uneasy look back at the abandoned temple before turning back to him. "Demons?" Her voice didn't betray the fear she felt at the idea of tangling with a demon.

"No, I don't think so." He looked back towards the building. "Both you and I would've been able to sense if demons were here." He gave a small sigh. "The monks decided to cloak their work from us as well. I'm not sure as to why." He now faced her. "But you have nothing to fear as far as demons. You should be fine."

Should be fine? Should be fine?! Well that was reassuring! She was ready to tell him to hell with this whole thing and demand that he take her home.

But, when she turned to him to do just that, she stopped. There was something about him that let her know how desperate he was. He had schooled his features into the perfect mask of stoicism but it was there. He could easily force her to do it but she knew that he wouldn't. He didn't say anything, his expression didn't change and she couldn't read his mind but she could still feel something from him that screamed "Please, help me!"

And it didn't help that he was pretty cute for a white boy.

Eyes flicking uneasily between the angel and the gloomy building, Missouri let out a shaky breath. "All right... I'll go in there. But only because the world's at stake..."

His nod was small, but she could see the gratefulness in the gesture. "Thank you, Missouri."

Nodding, she made her way towards the building, grumbling. "I'd better get the Presidential suite in heaven for this shit...

S.S.S.S.S

"So, you going to Kevin Berman's party?"

Dawn sighed at the question but kept her eyes on her geometry book, not bothering to look at Janice. Of course she had heard about Kevin's party. Everyone in the sophomore class heard about the party and everyone wanted to go. Well, everyone except for her. She just wasn't in the party mood for obvious reasons.

"Eh, probably not."

Janice rolled her eyes. "Dawn, come on… It's Kevin Berman's party. You have to be there." She turned in her desk to the pretty black girl sitting behind her. "Lisa, help me out here."

Dawn rolled her eyes. _And here they go…_

"Dawn… please?" Lisa pleaded. "It'll be awesome. And Kevin so wants you. You're not gonna let Kirsty the Creep get her hooks into him, are you?"

At that Dawn turned to her friend with a smirk. "But what about my two college guy love slaves?"

Janice's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. "Wait, what!?"

"Excuse me," a stern voice cut across their gossiping and the three teens turned to see their teacher glaring at them, "Powerpuff Girls, unless you're saving Townsville…"

"Hey, no one here's a blonde or redhead." Dawn protested, earning a laugh from her classmates and a far from amused look from the teacher.

"Miss Summers, perhaps you would like to share your Cartoon Network trivia with the principal?" the stern older woman said in a deceptively pleasant voice.

Dawn shrank in her seat and went back to her book. After a moment she felt a tap on her shoulder. She already knew it was Lisa. "What?" she asked, not in the mood.

Lisa leaned forward in her desk. "Dawn, come on. It'll be awesome. You need to get out more. We've been kind of worrying about you lately. You've been so weird all summer. I know you're upset about your mom but…" She gave Dawn a hopeful smile, "Don't you think she'd want you to have a little fun?"

Dawn was about to refuse the whole thing when her sister's words came back to her.

_Be brave. Live. For me._

Would Buffy really want her to be all depressed like this? She would want her to go out and have fun.

Well, she could go out…

Having fun?

Her mind flashed to Buffy's lifeless body lying at the foot of the tower amongst the rubble.

Having fun was an entirely different story.

S.S.S.S.S.

"Hoo… they worked some serious crap here."

Having climbed through the window into the temple, Missouri wrapped her shawl tighter around her body, fighting off a shiver. The leftover power in the place left goosebumps rising on her skin and shrieked across her psyche. And not just the power that the monks had used.

Taking a deep breath, hoping to relieve a bit of what was bombarding her senses, she made her way through the place after clicking on her flashlight. The place was trashed. Statues were broken and tipped over; parts of the wall were cracked. She lifted her flashlight to the high ceiling and her brows lifted when she noticed the devil's trap that was painted up there. Swinging her light to the floor she saw bits of a sigil peeking out from beneath some rubble. Pushing it away with her foot, she bent down to inspect it further. It was like no other sigil she had ever seen before, it almost looked like something one would see in a kaleidoscope but her intuition told her that this was what had made it impossible for Castiel to enter the building.

_Well, at least I don't have to worry about demons or his former club members popping in here._

Although it did make her wonder, why would the monks who were on the side of good cloak their work from angels?

Well, she could worry about that later. Casting a quick glance to the broken window where Castiel stood, she gave the angel a nod before taking a breath to clear her mind. She could feel the magic that they used, as well as great leftover power. The demigod Catiel had told her about, Glorificous.

"Wow, what a bitch…"

The demigod's power was intense! They might have placed those sigils up to ward her off as well but they obviously didn't work. She tried to feel out anything else.

Nothing.

_Damn._

Oh, wait! She felt something finally. It wasn't strong like the goddess. Not even mildly impressive though it felt good. This couldn't be the Key that Castiel was searching for. This felt like…

_Well, if I can't find it myself I can always ask where it is._

Coming back to herself, eyes and other senses alert, she sat down on the dusty ground. Opening the large bag she had brought with her she pulled out her Ouija board and some candles. After lighting them she placed her hands on the indicator.

"I know you're here… Will you talk to me?"

There was absolute silence, the spirit felt wary to her. Then she felt the indicator begin to move. She couldn't fight the small smile of satisfaction when it swung to "Yes."

"I'm Missouri. Nice to meet you. I know about the bitch that came here. Was she the one who killed you?"

The indicator stayed on yes for a few beats.

"Who was she?"

Now it began to move. First it moved to the letter 'A', then 'B'. She watched as it spelled a word and her brows arched when the spirit was done. "The Abomination."

She took a deep breath. "That Glorificous tramp my told me about?" It swung to yes. "I thought so…"

It began to spell some more. This time it formed a sentence. "What do you want?"

Now, they were past the small talk. "Look, I know about the Key and-"

The air in the room grew colder and a knot of fear tied in her stomach. A feeling like nails on a chalkboard grated over her brain. There was another spirit here and it was _pissed._

Her world suddenly flipped and she screamed as a force threw her into the cracked wall. "CASTIEL!" She cried out before an invisible hand gripped her throat.

S.S.S.S.

"Hey, Dawnster. How was school?"

Dawn tossed her backpack in the backseat and slid into the passenger seat of Xander's car. Since everyone else had either college or work to worry about at the moment or... sunlight, Xander was the one who picked Dawn up from school.

"It was ok." Dawn answered.

"Just ok?" Xander asked as he pulled away from the school. "No food fights or cheerleader hair pulls?"

"Nope."

"No Hell minions trying to take over?"

"We're not on the top of the Hellmounth, Xander." Dawn reminded him. "We're at Fondren High until they figure out where they're going to rebuild Sunnydale High."

"Ah... right, gotta remember that." The carpenter said as he pulled in front of the Magic Box. "Not at Sunndydale High... no portals beneath the library."

Dawn let out a light snort as she watched the scenery go by. "Well… Lisa and Janice want me to go to Kevin Berman's party."

Xander's brows went up. "A party? On a school night?"

"No," Dawn gave a laugh. "No way his parents would let him have a party tonight. It's Friday night I think."

"Kinda risky, don't ya think?" Xander asked and she looked at him in confusion.

"What's risky?"

"Planning a party the same night as Parent Teacher Day? Sure he won't have to cancel because the teachers tell his parents some fail-tastic news?"

At that Dawn gave a light smile. "He's like the master of every class. So, his parents will gladly let him party it up. And he's so smart and cool… and nice… and…" She stopped when she saw the light smirk on Xander's face. "What?"

"Awww, little Dawnie has a crush!"

Dawn rolled her eyes at that. "Xander, I so don't have a crush on him. He's nice and I was in total love with him last year but, this year, not so much."

Xander just turned a corner. "Denial is not just a river in Egypt."

"Shut up!" Dawn lightly fumed at the older man for a while before laughing. "Besides… according to Lisa, I'm going to be making out with college guys… or so her whacked out tarot reading says."

"Uh… She's really bad at tarot readings, right?" Xander asked nervously, not wanting to think about his sweet little Dawn with grody older men.

"She's horrible." Dawn's smile was reassuring.

Xander breathed a sigh of relief.

Dawn's smile then turned wicked. "If anything, it'll just be two seniors."

"GAH!"

S.S.S.S.S

Sam had barely even started the crossword puzzle when Castiel suddenly appeared in front of him. "Castiel, what-"

"Get you rock salt guns, now." His voice left no room for questions.

Sam didn't argue, he just sprinted out to the car.

The toilet flushed from down the hall and Dean came into the room. His green eyes widened when he noticed the angel was alone. "Where's Missouri?" he demanded.

"Still in the temple. A spirit has her and I can't get in. It's blocked off to angels."

Sam ran back into the room and tossed on of the shotguns to Dean. Castiel grabbed each Winchester by the shoulder and they all blinked out of the room.

s.s.s.s

_I will not let you take the Key, agent of the Abomination!_

Missouri weakly gasped for air as the cold hand squeezed her throat. An enraged Czech voice boomed inside of her head. This one was much more powerful than the one she had been talking to. She tried to answer back with her mind. _I don't wor-_

She couldn't think anymore. Her lungs fought futilely for air. The thing that held her slowly came into vision. The man must have been around fifty when he died.

_You lie!_

"HEY!!"

The spectre looked up just into have a rock salt shell explode his face. He dissolved into thin air, letting Missouri drop to the ground. Sam ran to her side as Dean cocked his gun again. "You okay?"

"Why'd the monk try to kill you?" Dean asked as Sam helped the psychic to her feet.

"He…" she gasped, the world didn't have enough air, "he thought I was working for that Glorificous bitch."

"What happened?" Sam asked as she got her bearings back.

Missouri sighed, shaking off the terror of nearly getting killed. "I was talking to one but when I mentioned the Key this other one attacked me, I think he was the one in charge." She took a breath to steady herself. "He was so powerful… the other one must've been a lackey or something."

Dean kept his gun up, looking about the room for any sign of another ghost. "Cas said he can't get in."

Missouri nodded and gestured to the sigil on the ceiling. Sam and Dean followed her gaze. "It's Enochian, I think," the younger brother stated then glanced around the room. "And devil's traps are all over the place."

"Ok, I get why they'd shut out the demons but why would holy men block out the angels?" Dean asked as he kept his gun aimed. "Granted they're dicks, but I figured they wouldn't know that."

"Spirits all over the place." Missouri reached into her own bag and pulled out a shot gun filled with rock salt. Dean looked at her quizzically.

"You know how to work that thing?"

She gave him an annoyed glare. "I'm from the south, boy. How about I use you as target practice?" She ignored the petulant look the elder Winchester gave her. "There's too many floors and the place is too big to even try a purification spell with so many ghosts running around."

"Yeah, the poor saps crossed a demigod… I'm guessing their deaths weren't pleasant." Sam commented.

"Cas did say she was almost as big of a bitch as Lilith." Dean replied then turned to Missouri, "Can you sense anything from her?"

Missouri shivered again at the feel of the demigod's power. "Be glad she's dead, boys. She was worse than the thing that took your mom."

The brother's exchanged disbelieving looks right as the monk ghost formed behind Dean. Sam's eyes widened to their full limits.

"DEAN!"

His warning was too late, the ghost flung Dean into a wall and held him there and then honored Sam and Missouri with an encore performance. Both humans screamed as their backs collied with the stone with a sickening thud.


	5. The High Priestess

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural. Supernatural belongs to Erik Kripke and Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. I'm not making a single cent off of this.

A/N: Okay, I am so sorry for the long hiatus but things have been very difficult as of late. Hopefully I can get out a chapter a week now that my writer's block has died… I'm not making any guarantees but I will try.

_The High Priestess- Card number two of the Major Arcana. Deals with intuition and secrets that are yet to be revealed._

Dean and Sam both grunted in sheer frustration as the tried to pry themselves from the wall but to no avail. The ghost had them pinned them good. Dean glanced from the corner of his eye at Missouri. The psychic was pinned to a wall adjacent from them, trying with all of her might to pull herself from the spirit's grasp with no luck.

Groaning, Dean managed to turn his gaze to the window. "CAS! DO SOMETHING! TORCH THESE BASTARDS!"

Outside Castiel scoured the outside of the monastery, searching for any way inside of the building and he came up with nothing. It was almost insulting. He was an angel and the thing that had his charge was just a lowly ghost. He could easily overcome the spirit even without the powers of heaven but not while barred.

He stopped and sighed. His chest constricted in that same way it did before, when he had killed two of his brothers. His charges… his friends were going to die because he had brought them here. He had lost his family… now he was going to lose his friends.

No. He was not going to lose his friends to a pathetic ghost.

Stopping, he concentrated. He could feel the power of the ghost that held them as well as the others, like frosty mountain air wrapped around nails. Their source of power was not emitting from inside the building but from the cemetery a few yards away. He quickly teleported to the graveyard feeling its power come from the grave to his right.

He placed his hand on the ground of the grave and shut his eyes and spoke in perfect Czech. "Listen to me, little ghost. You will let them all go. Now."

S.S.S

Dean's throat felt as if it were in a vice grip and he started to blackout. Suddenly the grip lessened and his vision returned. He could even move again. Lifting his head, he could see Sam and Missouri were in a similar state. His attention turned back to the spirit who had a horrified look on his face. He began to babble something in his native language frantically. Another ghost, younger appeared beside his master and looked curiously between his teacher and the three humans.

"What's going on?" Missouri asked the younger one.

"You know him?" Dean asked as the ghost grip loosened and he slid to the ground.

"He's the one I was talking with earlier," the psychic confirmed. She turned back to the dead young man. "What's going on?"

The boy glanced at her but kept his attention on his master. "Someone has him tethered…"

Dean and Sam exchanged shocked looks. "Cas."

The elder monk turned angry and for a moment and then his look turned to defiance as he continued to talk to the angel. He began to yell wildly and the younger monk's eyes widened. Dean and Sam exchanged confused glances and the turned to Missouri.

"What's going on? Can you hear what Cas is saying?"

The woman nodded, "Yeah, I can hear them. But a lot of good it'll do because I haven't the slightest idea what either of them is saying." She turned to the boy she had been speaking with before. "What're they talking about?"

"The angel… he wants to know where the Key is. And… my master refuses to tell where it is."

"Why?" Dean demanded, getting to his feet.

"He thinks we work for the… Abomination or whatever. That Glorificous bitch," Missouri clarified before turning to the monk. "We don't work for her," she pulled herself to her feet. "She's dead."

Elation lit the boy's face. "She is?"

"QUIET!" The elder monk snapped at his disciple. He then screamed and gripped his head, ranting furiously in his native language.

"Man, what's Cas doing to him?" Dean muttered to Sam. They had never seen anything like this happen to a spirit before.

Sam gave a small shrug as he watched the spectacle. "Must be an angel thing… They are a little higher on the scale than a ghost."

"Now what's he saying?" Missouri asked the boy but he seemed not to hear her. He started talking to his master in tone that suggested he was trying to get the elder spirit to think otherwise about telling Castiel anything but the elder snapped at him again and though they couldn't understand the words that were being said they could all understand the implications.

_Maybe you should tell him._

_SHUT THE HELL UP!_

The elder fell silent for a moment, his eyes widened and then a smirk tilted his mouth before he spoke in a calm and sure tone. His subordinate widened his eyes and started to speak but the elder silenced him with a calming and before his expression turned steely and he spoke in perfect English.

"Go on, Celestial. Do what you will. I will tell you nothing." He shut his eyes and bowed his head.

There was a strange calm and then a burning light flared up in his chest, his limbs caught on fire. His fleshed flamed away, then his skeleton all in one quick flash of embers. The elder monk's underlings all watched in horrified fascination as he flamingly burst into oblivion.

After a small silence, Dean cleared his throat. "Well… I'm guessing Cas just torched the guy's corpse."

"The angel killed him…" the boy muttered in disbelief, turning accusatory eyes on the group.

"He put him at rest," Sam insisted, trying to calm the ghost down. It was about forty to three and he was pretty certain Castiel couldn't torch all of their corpses at once. "Don't you think he deserves a little rest after the whole thing with the bitch god?"

"He _killed _him!" the boy insisted, now sounding thoroughly pissed off and advancing towards them.

"Ah crap…" Dean muttered and quickly fired a round from his salt gun.

The spirit disappeared but it seemed pretty pointless since two more dead monks appeared, each as pissed off as the former.

"Double crap…"

Dean muttered and aimed again. He was just about to squeeze off a couple of rounds when the two spirits quickly flamed out. Apparently Castiel was keeping himself busy outside. However, even with such an advantage, they needed to come to some sort of understanding with the ghosts if they were to have any hope of getting this Key thing.

"Hey! Listen up, you robed dicks! Dean snapped, his anger finally hitting critical mass. "Nobody's killing you because you're already dead! Incase you've forgotten a hell bitch already killed you!"

Sam spared his brother a disbelieving glance and fought the urge to shake his head. Dean's idea was a good one but his method was probably not the best one. Turning back to the spirits, he froze momentarily when three more had appeared. _Well… shit…_

"Look," Sam began, "What happened to you all was terrible. But the angel out there didn't kill your leader, he put him to rest."

"And we don't work for that Glorificous girl or whatever her name is," Missouri put in. "She's long dead. And think about it. Why would an angel work with a pagan god in the first place?"

"Yeah, if you know squat about angels then you know how self-righteous they are," Dean griped.

Outside in the cemetery, Castiel threw the monastery an annoyed glare before turning back to his work.

Inside, it seemed some of the younger monks were considering the humans' words while the elders refused to be swayed.

"The Beast is dead?" One of the younger one's asked, his face hopeful.

Seeing they were finally getting somewhere with the younger lot, Sam craned his neck to one of the windows, "Hey Cas! Hold off for a minute!"

Outside, Castiel paused in his torching of the corpses, hoping that they were finally getting somewhere with the spirits.

In the building, Sam took a cautious step forward and nodded, "Yes, she's dead. I don't know how she died but you don't have to worry about her anymore,"

The younger one approached one of his elders and began to speak in his native tongue. The two got into a heated argument and though neither of the three could understand a word that was being said, they managed to catch repeated words such as "Klíč" and "Ústí zatracení". Finally the elder turned to them all while the boy looked put out.

"You could be lying. We cannot risk it."

All three heaved a disappointed sigh, only to tense once the elder's face hardened. Sam whipped his head toward the window. "CAS! NOW!"

Their feet al flew from under them a collective scream rose into the air as they spirit slid them up the wall. Luckily for them, Castiel was fast and the spirit flamed out before it could do any real damage. They dropped to the ground and looked up just in time to see the others advance on them only to flame out of existence as well.

Sighing in relief, Sam slowly got to his feet. Dean followed suit, bending down to help up Missouri. Sam lifted his gun and spared the psychic a glance, "Are they all dead?"

Concentrating, Missouri gave an affirming nod. "They're gone." She then sighed. "And we still have no clue where this Key thing is…"

"Maybe they left some kind of written record?" Dean suggested.

"If they were careful enough to cloak their work from the angels and demons, you think they'd leave papers for human followers to find?" Sam replied and Dean let out a disappointed sigh and turned to the exit.

"Cas is not going to be happy…"

S.S.S.S.S

"Hey, Dawnie."

Dawn looked up from her homework to smile at Tara as she entered the Magic Box, backpack in tow. "Hi, Tara." She noticed that the blond's girlfriend wasn't with her. "Willow's still in study group or something?"

Tara paled slightly and exchanged a look with Anya before addressing the girl. "Uh, yeah... there's a big... test coming up."

Dawn arched her brows in mild surprise. "Didn't you guys just start the semester? Wow, your teachers are rough."

Tara just gave a small shrug. "How was school?"

"Eh, the usual..." She went back to her work for a moment and the looked up. "Oh, Lisa got a new deck of tarot cards."

Tara's brows rose up as she sat down at the table and pulled out her own study materials. "Didn't her parents burn the last one?"

The teenager nodded. "Yep. She's hiding this one. Her aunt knows about them but she's an atheist so she doesn't care."

"Oh."

"She gave me a reading."

Tara looked up from the books. "Really? Do you think she's any good? Maybe she didn't get the right deck for her or-"

"No... she's good... until she starts getting all girly." Dawn rolled her eyes. "She said I'm going to have an affair with two college guys."

The witch's brows rose again, this time with slight amusement. "And why did she think that?"

Dawn shrugged. "I don't know... Something about the kings of whatever and how the represent older guys and they were near the Devil and that meant hot sex."

A look of alarm flashed over Tara's face that had Dawn scrunching her brows in worry. "Tara, what's wrong?"

Tara schooled her features into a less panicked expression before addressing Dawn. "Well, it's just that... I'm not much of a tarot reader but the Devil card can't be good news."

Dawn turned back to her books. "It might just mean a demon. And we're in Sunnydale. So, it's kind of a given."

"She has a point." Anya said from behind the register.

Tara lowered her eyes back to her books, trying to concentrate but failing. She looked back up at Dawn who had gone back to her homework. "Do you remember the other cards that were in the reading?"

Dawn looked up and thought for a moment. She did a fifteen card thing. Five for the past, present and future. The past was..." She stopped, remembering the card combination that spelled out her origins and her sister's demise so clearly.

The Tower... as in jumping off of one.

"Dawn?" Tara asked gently, snapping her back to reality.

Shaking her head, Dawn turned back to Tara and sighed. "It was... the cards were something about a Pope guy, a Magician, a card about an emotional girl, a tower and something about an empress... And-"

"Hey guys!"

Both girls looked up to see Willow coming inside with her bags. The redhead sat her backpack at the table with the pair and sat down. "What's with al the serious-y faces?"

"Dawn was telling us about a tarot reading she got from a girl at her school," Tara explained.

"Tara's wigging out because of the Devil card but forgets that we're in Sunnydale," Anya said dismissively as she stocked the shelves.

Tara looked put out but Willow just gave her lover a gentle smile, "Are you sure you're not just worrying, sweetie?"

The blonde witch sighed, "From what I know of tarot the Devil card means something bad…"

"But the bad you're thinking of is usually something like the Tower, or ten of Swords… the Devil usually means an inner demon like an addiction. Or it can mean, as Dawn said earlier, hot sex," Anya explained.

Tara seemed thoughtful after the ex-demon's explanation while Willow looked surprised that Anya knew that much about tarot and Dawn just flushed at the notion of her having hot sex.

"So, if anything…Dawn's going to get all hot and bothered over two hot seniors in her school and screw up on a test. And at the worse, a random demon will attack in which case the Buffybot and Spike will kill it,"

That explanation seemed to pacify Tara for the moment while Dawn was just glad to get off of the subject of her having sex. Yes, she thought about it, being a teenage girl but she didn't want it coming up around Willow and Tara who seemed to love to censor things from her.

Going back to her homework, she trudged through the ninth circle of hell which consisted of tortures such as geometry and algebra when her mind flashed to the Temperance card again. Its meaning was pretty mundane so why did she keep flashing to that angelic card?

S.S.S.S

"We were unsuccessful,"

Bobby took one look at the haggard trio and their despondent celestial companion and sighed. "I kinda figured," waving a hand, he gestured for the four to come into the kitchen.

A few moments later found the Winchesters and Missouri all seated in Bobby's kitchen a bottle of beer in front of each of them. Castiel leaned against the wall, extremely disappointed but he managed to hide it well but Sam and Dean had been around the angel long enough to tell he wasn't feeling as stoic as he looked.

"Well, there was one thing…" Sam began and Bobby turned to him. "There was a point when they started arguing and they kept saying… 'Klíč' and 'Ústí zatracení'' whatever that means…"

At those words, Castiel's eyes widened. "Key and Hellmouth,"

All of the human males looked at the angel in confusion while Missouri looked horrified. "Oh, shit. Really?"

"Hellmouth?" Dean asked intelligently. "What's that?"

"Is that like a Devil's Gate?" Sam asked Missouri, getting out his laptop.

Not entirely," Castiel answered from his position against the wall and the three humans all turned to him. "A Hellmouth is a place where the barriers between worlds are the thinnest. And not just the barrier between the living and the dead, but the wake and the dreaming, all other worlds in general. The place is always in a constant state of chaos. Creatures from other realms roam these lands daily. However, the energies of the place alter the perception of the humans that inhabit it, except for a few."

There was a silence as the three hunters all took that in. Places where every awful thing they've ever hunted all gathered in one place?

"Wait…" Sam held up a hand, "if that's true, then how come we've never heard of them?"

"There are only a few. Most of them are in other continents. Also, they vary in degrees of power."

"Wait, you said most of them were in other continents…" Bobby noted, "but not all. You're saying some of those damn things are here in America?"

Castiel nodded. "Yes. Two of them."

"Where?" Dean asked.

"One is in Cleveland, Ohio. That one is fairly weak. The only thing one has to worry about there is the usual ghosts and an unusually high concentration of demons… Though now that Lucifer has risen that is now a problem everywhere."

"And the other one?" Sam asked.

"The other one is in Northern California in a town called Sunnydale," Missouri spoke up finally and Castiel nodded.

"And that one is by far the most powerful."

At that, Sam sighed and leaned back in his chair, "And with our luck that's probably where the Key is, isn't it?"

"It would appear so," the angel agreed.

"Just great," Sam muttered and began doing research on Sunnydale, California.

Okay, just so people know, I got the Czech words from a translator. I do not know the language and if its messed up, then feel free to let me know and I'll correct any mistakes.


End file.
